Spades score counter · Free · No sign-up
Spades Score Counter
A spades score counter scores each hand from the bids and the tricks taken: 10 points a trick bid when a side makes its bid, 1 for each extra trick, which is also a bag, and 10 bags cost 100. This one scores nil and blind nil and lets you choose the house rules that sources disagree on.
Free, no sign-up, and nothing leaves this browser.
Bids: 4 still to come · tricks 0 of 13
| Hand | Team A | Team B | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bids / took | Hand | Score (bags) | Bids / took | Hand | Score (bags) | |
| No hands scored yet | ||||||
Players sit in number order round the table, partners opposite. Enter each bid with + and −: below 1 is Nil, below Nil is Blind nil when your rules allow it. After the play, enter the tricks each player took; when all 13 are in, Score hand (or Enter) scores both sides, says why, and passes the deal to the left. Ctrl+Z undoes. Changing a rule re-scores every hand already played; changing the number of players starts a new game.
This keeps the score; it does not play the cards. It cannot see a renege, a spade led before spades are broken or the cards passed for a blind nil, so it scores the bids and tricks the table agrees. Spades has no governing body, and the settings above are the points where published rules disagree; your table’s rules win. Not covered: three-handed cutthroat (Pagat scores its bags differently), 10 for 200, Boston and moon bonuses, and joker decks.
The arithmetic is not the hard part. The arguments are: what a failed nil’s tricks are worth, whether a set loses points or scores nothing, and who wins when both sides pass 500. This counter scores each hand by the rules you choose, explains every number and keeps the score sheet.
Spades is a trick-taking card game for four players in two partnerships, in which spades are always trumps. Each player bids the number of tricks they expect to win, partners’ bids are added together, and a side scores for making its combined bid and loses for missing it. A game is usually played to 500 points.
- No sign-up
- No ads
- Counts never leave your browser
- Works offline
- Unlimited counters
Key facts
| Detail | Answer |
|---|---|
| Price | Free, no sign-up, no ads |
| Entry | Each player’s bid and tricks taken; the hand scores when all 13 tricks are in |
| Players | 4 in two partnerships, or 2 playing alone |
| Made bid | 10 a trick bid, plus 1 a trick over (a bag) |
| Set (bid missed) | −10 a trick bid, or 0 (Bicycle) |
| Bags | 10 bags −100 with the rest carried, 5 bags −50, or none |
| Nil / blind nil | 100 / 200 either way; blind nil only 100 behind, any time, or off |
| Failed nil’s tricks | Bags (Pagat), nothing (UChicago), or toward the partner’s bid |
| Game | To 500 (or 200 to 1000); both over, the higher wins; level, another hand; optional −200 or −500 floor |
| Score sheet | Every hand: bids, tricks, points and the score with bags |
| Undo | Every tap, every hand and every setting |
| Where data goes | Nowhere. Local storage in this browser only |
| Official record | No. It scores what the table agrees; it does not see the cards |
How to keep score in spades with the counter
Agree the house rules before the first deal, then enter each hand as it is bid and played.
Choose the rules
Players, the target score, and the disputed points: a set, a failed nil’s tricks, the bag penalty and blind nil.
Name the players
Players 1 and 3 are Team A, 2 and 4 Team B, seated in that order round the table.
Enter the bids
Press + for each player’s bid; − below 1 is Nil, and below that Blind nil when allowed.
Enter the tricks after play
Count each player’s tricks with +; the counter will not accept more than 13 in all.
Score the hand
Score hand, or Enter, scores both sides, carries the bags, applies any bag-out and explains every number.
Read the sheet
Each hand is added to the score sheet; the game ends at the target, or a level score plays on.
Where a spades score counter gets used
Most spades is played at a kitchen table with a pencil, which is where the disputes start.
Family card nights
One phone keeps the score, the bags and whose deal it is, and nobody adds wrongly at 1 a.m.
Settling a house rule
Change the failed-nil or set rule and every hand is re-scored, so the table sees what the rule is worth.
Dorm and club tournaments
The same rules for every table, set once, with the full sheet to show at the end.
Learning spades
Each hand is explained in words: the bid, the set, the bags and the nil.
Two-handed spades
One player a side, with the same scoring for bids, bags and nil.
Checking a paper sheet
Enter the hands from a score pad to find the mistake, bags included.
Where spades scoring rules disagree, and one hand scored three ways
Every set of spades rules agrees on the core: a side that makes its bid scores 10 a trick bid and 1 for each trick over, a nil is worth 100 and a blind nil 200. Past that they part company, and most pages that rank for spades scoring state one version as if it were the only one. These are the points that change the score, as each source printed them when checked on 20 October 2026:
| Question | One rule | Another | A third |
|---|---|---|---|
| A side misses its bid (is set) | Loses 10 a trick bid: Pagat, Wikipedia, cardgames.io, the University of Chicago intramural rules | Scores 0: Bicycle (“the score is 0”) | – |
| A nil fails: the tricks the nil bidder took | Do not help the partner’s bid but count as bags: Pagat (“the usual rule”), cardgames.io | Count for nothing, not even bags: University of Chicago (“nor do they count as bags”) | Count toward the partner’s bid: a variant Pagat lists |
| Bags | 10 bags cost 100, the rest carried: all of the above | 5 bags cost 50 in a 250-point game: Wikipedia | No penalty: a Pagat variant |
| Both sides pass 500 on one hand | The higher score wins: Pagat, cardgames.io, University of Chicago | If level, play another hand: Bicycle, Wikipedia | – |
| A losing floor | None: Pagat’s basic game | Lose at −200: Wikipedia | Lose at −500: a Pagat variant |
One hand, scored three ways
Team A: Player 1 bids nil and takes 2 tricks; Player 3 bids 4 and takes 3. Team B bid 6 and 2 and took exactly 8. Team B score 80 under every rule. Team A’s score depends on the rule your table plays:
| Failed nil rule | The nil | The bid of 4 | Bags | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count as bags (Pagat) | −100 | Took 3: set, −40 | +2 | −138 |
| Count for nothing (UChicago) | −100 | Took 3: set, −40 | 0 | −140 |
| Toward partner’s bid | −100 | Took 3 + 2 = 5: made, +40 | +1 | −59 |
Seventy-nine points between the second line and the third, from one rule nobody mentions until it happens. With Bicycle’s rule that a set scores 0, the first line becomes −98. The counter has each of these as a setting, and because it keeps the hands rather than the totals, changing one after an argument re-scores the whole game the new way.
Bags: the 10-bag penalty, the carry, and the last-digit shortcut
A bag (or sandbag) is a trick taken over the bid. It scores 1 point, and it is a liability: bags are counted across hands, and when a side has 10 it loses 100 points and starts again, with any bags over 10 carried into the next ten. That is how Pagat, Wikipedia and cardgames.io put it (Bicycle: 100 off “every time” a side accumulates 10), and the worked example Pagat and cardgames.io both use is the clearest:
| Step | Score | Bags |
|---|---|---|
| Before the hand | 337 | 7 |
| Bid 5, take 8: 50 + 3 bags | 390 | 10 |
| 10 bags reached: −100 | 290 | 0 |
The bag-out that costs the game
Whether a side has reached 500 is decided after the bag penalty, not before it. Team A are on 462 with 8 bags and bid 4; they take 7. That is 43 points, 505 for a moment, but 3 more bags make 11, so 100 comes off: 405, with 1 bag carried. Team B, on 470, bid 6 and made exactly 6 for 530, and win. The counter applies the penalty first and then checks the target.
The last-digit shortcut, and where it breaks
Pagat notes that “the cumulative number of overtricks taken appears as the final digit of the team’s score”. Every other amount in the game is a multiple of 10, so 337 is a side with 7 bags. That is why many score sheets have no bag column. It stops working in three cases:
- Below zero. Bid 5 and take 3 for −50, then bid 4 and take 7 for 43: the score is −7 and the side has 3 bags, not 7.
- A 5-bag rule. A 50-point penalty at 5 bags puts a 5 in the units: 45 with 5 bags becomes −5 with none.
- A failed nil under “count for nothing”, or any house bonus that is not a multiple of 10, can leave the digit and the bags apart.
The counter keeps the bags as their own number beside the score, in brackets on the sheet, so it never depends on the shortcut.
Nil and blind nil: the values, the partner’s tricks and the 100-behind rule
A player who bids nil promises to take no tricks at all. The partnership scores 100 if they manage it and loses 100 if they take even one, and the partner’s own bid is scored separately, as the side’s whole contract. A blind nil is bid before looking at the cards and is worth 200 either way.
| Bid | Made | Failed | Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nil | +100 | −100 | Any player, any hand |
| Blind nil | +200 | −200 | “Usually agreed” only for a side losing by 100 or more (Pagat; Wikipedia); by agreement before play (UChicago). The bidder passes two cards to the partner, who passes two back (Pagat) |
| Both partners nil | +200 | −200 | Each scored on its own: one made and one failed is 0 (UChicago) |
Can the partner of a nil bidder win tricks?
Yes, and they usually have to: the partner’s bid is the side’s whole contract, and their tricks make it. What changes is the nil bidder’s tricks if the nil fails. Under the usual rule those tricks do not count toward the partner’s bid, but they are still bags; under the University of Chicago rules they are not even bags; in the variant they help the partner make the bid. The table in the first section shows one hand scored all three ways.
When is a blind nil allowed?
With the default setting, only when the bidder’s side is 100 or more behind before the hand is dealt, which is the condition Pagat and Wikipedia give. The counter checks it against the score before the hand and will not step a bid below Nil when it does not hold. “Any time” and “Not allowed” are the other two settings.
How to keep a spades score sheet
A paper spades score sheet needs, for each hand, each side’s bid, the tricks it took, the points for the hand and the running score, with the bags either in a column of their own or read from the last digit. Write each player’s bid, not just the side’s: when someone bids nil you need to know whose tricks were whose. The counter draws the same sheet as you go. Four hands of a game under the default rules:
| Hand | Team A (Players 1 and 3) | Team B (Players 2 and 4) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bids / took | Hand | Score (bags) | Bids / took | Hand | Score (bags) | |
| 1 | 3+2 / 4+2 | +51 | 51 (1) | 4+3 / 4+3 | +70 | 70 (0) |
| 2 | Nil+4 / 0+4 | +140 | 191 (1) | 5+2 / 6+3 | +72 | 142 (2) |
| 3 | 4+3 / 3+2 | −70 | 121 (1) | 3+2 / 3+5 | +53 | 195 (5) |
| 4 | 2+3 / 2+4 | +51 | 172 (2) | Nil+5 / 1+6 | −48 | 147 (7) |
Hand 2 is a made nil: 100 for Player 1 and 40 for Player 3’s 4. Hand 3 is a set: Team A bid 7 and took 5. In hand 4 Player 2’s nil failed with one trick: −100, plus 51 for Player 4’s 5 made with 6, plus the nil’s trick as a bag, −48 in all. Under “count for nothing” that hand is −49 and the bags stay at 6.
Who deals and who bids first
The deal passes to the left after every hand, and the player to the dealer’s left bids first and leads to the first trick (Pagat). The counter names both each hand. Next dealer, before the first hand, moves the first deal round the table if someone other than Player 1 cut to deal.
Online counter vs a clicker, an app, paper and a spreadsheet
Every counting method trades something away. This is what each one actually costs you.
| Feature | This online counter | Handheld clicker | Counter phone app | Pen and paper | Spreadsheet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | $5–$15 | Free with ads, or paid | Cost of paper | Subscription |
| Anything to install | No | Buy the device | App store download | No | Yes, or a web login |
| Several counts at once | Unlimited | One per device | Usually limited | Yes, messy | Yes |
| Fix a miscount | Undo and redo | Start over | Sometimes | Cross it out | Edit the cell |
| Counts by more than one | Any step size | One at a time | Sometimes | Manual maths | Yes |
| Below zero | Yes | No | Rarely | Yes | Yes |
| Keeps the count if you close it | Saves automatically | Until you reset the dial | Yes | If you keep the paper | Yes |
| Works with no signal | Yes, after first load | Yes | Yes | Yes | Often not |
| Keyboard and shortcuts | Full | None | None | None | Partial |
| Sends your data anywhere | Never | Never | Often, for accounts and ads | Never | Yes, to the cloud |
Other counter types
The same counter, set up and explained for a specific job. Your counters are shared across all of them.
Everyday7
The general-purpose counters: one number, many numbers, or counting on a timer.
Online counter
The all-purpose counter. Any step size, any number of counters, negative values allowed.
Open online counter →Tally counter
Tally marks in groups of five for surveys, stock takes and wildlife counts.
Open tally counter →Click counter
A browser clicker that replaces the handheld thumb counter for door headcounts.
Open click counter →Multi counter
Run as many counters as you like at once, side by side in a grid.
Open multi counter →Auto counter
Counts on its own from every 0.1 seconds to once an hour, and stops at your limit.
Open auto counter →Yes/No counter
Two options, a live percentage, and the sample size and caveats the percentage needs.
Open yes/no counter →Sticker album counter
Stickers you have and spares to swap, missing lists to copy, and the packs still to go from your count.
Open sticker album counter →
Sport & scores43
Scoreboards that know the rules of their game, not just two numbers that go up.
Score counter
A scoreboard for cards, darts and board games. One counter per player, negatives allowed.
Open score counter →Pitch counter
Count pitches, then get the rest days owed and the next eligible date.
Open pitch counter →Golf scorecard
Strokes per hole with the course handicap allocated by stroke index, net and Stableford.
Open golf scorecard →Badminton score counter
Rally scoring with the service court and doubles positions, for 3x21 and the 2027 3x15 system.
Open badminton score counter →Pickleball score counter
The 0-0-2 call with the right server and side, in side-out or 2026 rally scoring.
Open pickleball score counter →Squash score counter
Point-a-rally to 11 with the server, the service box, hand out and lets.
Open squash score counter →Penalty shootout counter
Five kicks each that stop the moment a team cannot catch up, then sudden death.
Open penalty shootout counter →Basketball score counter
Points by period with team fouls and the bonus as FIBA, NBA, NCAA or high school count them.
Open basketball score counter →Baseball score counter
Balls, strikes, outs and the line score, with foul bunts, dropped third strikes and walk-offs.
Open baseball score counter →Cricket score counter
Runs, wickets and overs by legal balls, with wides, no-balls, free hits and the chase.
Open cricket score counter →American football score counter
Touchdowns and the try at each level, with NFL, college and high school overtime rules.
Open american football score counter →Boxing score counter
Three judges' 10-point must cards and the verdict they give, split and majority draws included.
Open boxing score counter →Hockey score counter
Ice hockey goals and shots by period, with each league's overtime, shootout and standings points.
Open hockey score counter →Pool score counter
Straight pool with the breaking foul and three-foul penalties, and 8-ball, 9-ball and 10-ball races.
Open pool score counter →Rugby score counter
Union, sevens and league points, conversions tied to tries, golden point and bonus points.
Open rugby score counter →Soccer score counter
Goals by minute, five subs in three windows, second yellows, extra time and aggregate.
Open soccer score counter →Table tennis score counter
Games to 11 with the server named, doubles order, the swap at 5 and the expedite system.
Open table tennis score counter →Tennis score counter
Love to game with the server's court, every change of ends, tie-breaks and doubles order.
Open tennis score counter →Padel score counter
The 2026 Star Point, golden point or advantage, who serves and receives, and every change of sides.
Open padel score counter →Volleyball score counter
Rally scoring with the six-position rotation, the next server, time-outs, subs and beach mode.
Open volleyball score counter →Americano padel score counter
Rotating partners for 4 to 16 players, matches to a points total, and every player's running total.
Open americano padel score counter →Field hockey score counter
Goals by minute, a clock that stops, card timers in playing time, the 2026 card rules and shoot-outs.
Open field hockey score counter →Free throw counter
Make or miss, the percentage with its likely range, runs of makes, sets and make-50 goals.
Open free throw counter →Futsal score counter
Accumulated fouls per half with the 10 m kick, timeouts, a stopped clock and the red card timer.
Open futsal score counter →Handball score counter
2-minute suspensions a goal does not end, the third a red card, three warnings and team time-outs.
Open handball score counter →Judo score counter
The 2026 IJF rules: yuko back, a hold timer that scores itself, shido that never decide, golden score.
Open judo score counter →Kabaddi score counter
Players on court kept for you: revival in order, all outs, the bonus line, super tackle, do-or-die.
Open kabaddi score counter →Karate score counter
WKF kumite 2026: senshu kept for you and lost in the last 15 s, the 8-point lead, chui to hansoku.
Open karate score counter →Lacrosse score counter
Penalty timers that know which one a goal releases, by code: high school, NCAA, PLL, box and sixes.
Open lacrosse score counter →Netball score counter
Whose centre pass is next, kept through every break, plus the Super Shot and extra time.
Open netball score counter →Roundnet score counter
Who serves to whom under the 2026 IRF equal serving or the classic rules, with every rotation.
Open roundnet score counter →Cornhole score counter
Cancellation scoring bag by bag, who pitches first next round, ACO Skins and house-rule busts.
Open cornhole score counter →Water polo score counter
Exclusions a goal or the ball won ends early, personal fouls by cap, the possession clock, shootout.
Open water polo score counter →Wrestling score counter
Folkstyle, freestyle or Greco: 3-point takedowns, riding time, the technical fall, overtime, criteria.
Open wrestling score counter →Curling score counter
Points by end, the hammer next end, the mixed doubles decision, and the club scoreboard drawn for you.
Open curling score counter →Fencing score counter
Hits on a bout clock in fencing time, the priority minute, cards by group and the 2026-27 P-cards.
Open fencing score counter →Gaelic football score counter
Goals, two-pointers and points by the 2026 rules, a 45 valued by code, extra time, and the scorers line.
Open gaelic football score counter →Taekwondo score counter
WT kyorugi 2026: 6 for a turning head kick, best of three rounds, the 15-point gap and the round tiebreak.
Open taekwondo score counter →Cribbage board counter
A peg board for 2, 3 or 4: the play, then each hand in counting order to 121 or 61, with skunks and muggins.
Open cribbage board counter →Euchre score counter
Who called, alone or not, and the tricks: loners, euchres and the disputed house rules, plus a progressive tally.
Open euchre score counter →500 score counter
The bid and the tricks, scored by the Avondale table: misère, slams and how a game is won as settings.
Open 500 score counter →Gin rummy score counter
Who went down and both deadwood counts: undercuts, gin, boxes and shutouts, plus Hollywood and Oklahoma.
Open gin rummy score counter →Hearts score counter
Hearts and the queen per hand, refused until it adds to 26: five moon rules, the jack of diamonds, Black Maria.
Open hearts score counter →
Fitness & health7
Reps, laps, breaths and daily habits, where the count is part of the activity.
Lap counter
Count pool lengths, track laps and treadmill intervals without losing your place.
Open lap counter →Rep counter
Track reps and sets during a lifting session, with a step size for supersets.
Open rep counter →Click speed test
Measure your clicks per second over 1 to 60 seconds, with your personal best kept on-device.
Open click speed test →Habit counter
Count toward a daily target and keep the streak, with a day boundary you choose.
Open habit counter →Breath counter
Count breaths one to ten for meditation, with lost count recorded, or time breaths per minute.
Open breath counter →Craving tracker
Time each urge, rate it 1 to 10, and log whether you rode it out or acted on it.
Open craving tracker →Water intake counter
Drinks logged in ml or oz by the cup you used, against a goal or a fluid limit, paced over your day.
Open water intake counter →
Work & field5
Counting that produces a record someone else relies on: stock, occupancy, lab work.
Differential counter
Six keys for a manual white cell differential, with an auto-stop and live percentages.
Open differential counter →People counter
In and out at a door, with live occupancy against a capacity and a fix for drift.
Open people counter →Bird counter
A row per species recording the high count, so a circling flock is not counted twice.
Open bird counter →Inventory counter
A count sheet holding the book quantity beside the counted one, with the variance per line.
Open inventory counter →Knitting counter
Rows, pattern repeats and a shaping schedule that names the increase rows and then ends.
Open knitting counter →
Faith9
Counts with their own rules about when a day turns over and what completes a set.
Tasbeeh counter
A digital dhikr counter that stops at 33, 99 or 100 and keeps each dhikr separate.
Open tasbeeh counter →Omer counter
The 49 days of Sefirat HaOmer, in days and weeks, with the blessing state tracked.
Open omer counter →Mala counter
108 beads to a round, credited as 100 or 108, with dorje and bell counter strings and a bell.
Open mala counter →Rosary counter
Prayer by prayer through the decades, with the day's mysteries by the 2002 or the older schedule.
Open rosary counter →Divine Mercy chaplet counter
The chaplet in Diary 476's order, a tap a prayer, with the novena from Good Friday kept day by day.
Open divine mercy chaplet counter →St Michael chaplet counter
The nine salutations in the Raccolta's order, a tap a prayer, with the Michaelmas novena kept.
Open st michael chaplet counter →Prayer rope counter
A knot a tap on any chotki, services in Jesus Prayers, and the Optina 500 with its prostrations.
Open prayer rope counter →Seven Sorrows rosary counter
Seven sorrows of seven Hail Marys, a tap a prayer, the three for Mary's tears where your card puts them.
Open seven sorrows rosary counter →Franciscan Crown counter
Seven joys of ten Hail Marys and two to make 72, a tap a prayer, with the Pope's prayers and Lent's sorrows.
Open franciscan crown counter →
Frequently asked questions
How does scoring work in spades?
Each side adds its players’ bids. If it takes at least that many tricks it scores 10 points a trick bid plus 1 for each extra trick; if it takes fewer it is set and, under most rules, loses 10 a trick bid. A nil scores 100 if the bidder takes no tricks and loses 100 otherwise. The first side to 500 usually wins.
What are bags in spades?
Bags, or sandbags, are tricks a side takes over its bid. Each is worth 1 point, but they are counted across hands, and when a side reaches 10 bags it loses 100 points. Bags over 10 carry into the next count. The penalty is there to stop sides underbidding to stay safe.
What happens when you get 10 bags in spades?
You lose 100 points, and the bag count drops by 10, so any bags beyond ten carry over: a side at 8 bags that takes 3 more loses 100 and has 1. The penalty comes off before the side’s score is checked against the target, so a bag-out can stop a side reaching 500 on the hand it seemed to.
Can your partner win a trick if you bid nil in spades?
Yes. Only the nil bidder has to avoid tricks. The partner’s bid is the side’s whole contract, and their tricks make it. If the nil fails, the rules differ on the nil bidder’s tricks: usually they count as bags but not toward the partner’s bid; some rules ignore them; a variant adds them to the partner’s bid.
What is the penalty for missing your bid in spades?
Under most published rules, a side that takes fewer tricks than it bid loses 10 points for each trick it bid, so missing a bid of 6 costs 60. Bicycle’s rules instead score a missed bid as 0. Either way the side scores no bags for that hand. Missing a bid is called being set.
How many points is a nil in spades?
A nil is worth 100 points: plus 100 if the player who bid it takes no tricks, minus 100 if they take even one. The partner’s bid is scored separately. A blind nil, bid before looking at the cards, is worth 200 either way, and most rules allow it only for a side at least 100 points behind.
Do bags carry over in spades?
Yes. Bags are counted across the whole game, not hand by hand, and when a side reaches 10 it loses 100 points. Bags over 10 are carried into the next count rather than lost. Under the usual scoring the last digit of a positive score shows the bag count; below zero it does not.
What happens if both teams reach 500 in spades?
If both sides pass 500 on the same hand, the side with the higher score wins under Pagat’s and most other published rules. If the scores are exactly level, Bicycle and Wikipedia say to play another hand. Some tables also end the game when a side falls to minus 200.
Is this an official spades scorer?
No. Spades has no governing body, so there is no official scoring, only published rules that disagree on a few points. This counter scores the bids and tricks your table agrees, by the rules you choose, and keeps everything in this browser. It cannot see the cards, check a renege or settle a dispute.
Counting guides
Longer answers to the questions behind the counting.
- Swimming
How to count laps while swimming
Why swimmers lose count at length 14, and five methods that actually hold up.
- Tallying
Tally marks explained
Groups of five, the five-bar gate, and why the convention has survived for centuries.
- Events
How to do an accurate headcount
Counting people is easy. Counting them accurately, twice, is not.
- Habits
Track a daily habit streak
Why streak apps fail, and what a plain daily counter does better.
- Click speed
How to click faster
Hardware and grip account for most of the gap. Practice accounts for less than people think.
- Inventory
How to do a stock take
Counting is the easy part. Preparing, and knowing your count is right, is the job.
- Reference
Types of counters explained
Synchronous vs asynchronous, mod-N, ring and Johnson, industrial and PLC counters, plus mechanical and software counters.
- Build it
How to make a counter
Twenty lines gets you counting. Here is what to add after that, and why.
- Baseball
How to keep an official pitch count
Little League requires an official recorder at every game. Almost nobody explains the job.
- Dhikr
One tasbeeh is equal to how many?
The same phrase means a count of a hundred, a bead loop, a single dhikr, or the set after salah. Which one is meant, and when.
- Haematology
How to do a manual differential count
Why the pattern matters, how many cells is enough, and the imprecision built into the method itself.
- Birding
How to count a flock of birds
Blocks, tens, and why the number to report is the most seen at one time.
- Knitting
How to read knitting shaping instructions
Every 4th row, alt rows, at each end, AT THE SAME TIME — translated, with the rows they land on.
- Golf
Stableford points and net scores
Stroke index, strokes received, net score, points — in the order you actually need them.
- Surveys
How many people do you need to survey?
Why 385 answers a city and 45 answers a club, and the margin each sample size buys.
- Rules
How to read fencing pool results
V and V3, the indicator, why the ranking is V/M and not wins, ties at the cut and the seeded table.
- Rules
How to fill in a FIBA basketball scoresheet
The running score, team fouls, time-outs and the new 2026 foul marks, DI, FL and the circled T.
- Rules
Futsal rule changes 2025-26
Penalty-kick fouls stop counting, the dropped ball follows possession, and the 8-second rule is not futsal's.
- Rules
Futsal timekeeper and third referee
The stopped clock, the fifth-foul sign, the time-out slip, the two-minute entry slip and the eight signals from the table.
- Scorekeeping
How to write a GAA match report
The result line, the scorers line with 2pt, f and 45, what the brackets mean, team lists and subs, and how to check the sums.
- Rules
Handball timekeeper and scorekeeper
The clock, the suspension cards, the green card, the whistle that stops play, and the three attacks after an injury.
- Rules
Hockey rule changes from 1 November 2026
No second green or yellow, coaches' cards that cost a player, and what is not new since March.
- Rules
Netball scorer and timekeeper
The quarter and interval timetable, goals and missed shots, the centre pass column, holding time and the suspension clock.
- Training
Reps and sets explained
What 10 reps and 3x10 mean, where 3 sets of 10 came from, and what the 2026 ACSM review changed.
- Rules
Roundnet rule changes 2025-26
Equal serving, the bigger ball, a boundary at last and three touches on the serve, edition by edition.
- Rules
How to fill out a volleyball score sheet
The X in box 1, checkmarks and exit scores, time-outs, subs, the libero triangle, penalty points and the T-bar.
- Rules
Water polo table officials
Who runs which clock, the 18-second exclusions, the four flags, the third personal foul and the 45-second whistle.
- Rules
How to keep score in wrestling
T3 not T2, near falls by the second, riding time, the circled first points and how a result is written.